how do you make a hit counter?

i wanted to make a hit counter like the one on boingdragon.com but idk how can i have help at all? i am gonna go on geocities and look at the coding to that and try work it out then try adding an image behind it, who knows.

the good thing about statcounter is its invisible .. if you are a web designer or you intend to design a "good" site you shouldnt actualy be able to see the counter and you should just expect to get a floud of veiwers